PLANS TO MEET ALL NEEDS By Dick Barth General Manager, PA DHIA A rather ominous story appeared in dairy publications last week reporting that milk prices are expected to go down almost $2.00 a cwt. in the near future. Not great news for the holidays, or any other time for that matter. How Does Your Herd Compare? STATE COLLEGE (Centre Co.) —This data is .Value for CWT Silage(s) 1.52 pulled from Pennsylvania DHIA s mainframe .Value for Pasture Per Day(s) .30 computer each week. It is a one-week summary .Value for Milk Per Cow Per representing approximately one-fourth of the Year(s) 2 517 herds on test, as they are tested monthly. .Feed Consumed Per Cow Per These data are valuable from a business man- Year(Lbs) agement standpoint and can be used for compar- A: Grain 6,848 ing your operations to the averages from almost B: Hay 2^662 1,400 herds across the state. q Silage 14*335 DHIA Averages for all herds processed between D: Day Pasture ’ 69 10/30/90 and 11/06/90 .Feed Cost Per Cow Per Year(s) Number of Herds Processed 1,428 A: Grain 547 Number of Cows Processed 81,367 B: Hay 117 Number of Cows Per Herd 56.9 C: Silage 218 Milk Per Cow (Lbs) 16,952 D: Pasture 20 %-Fat 3.67 .Total Feed Cost Per Cow Per Fat Per Cow (Lbs) 623 Year(s) 903 %-Protein 3.19 .Income Over Feed Costs Per Protein Per Cow (Lbs) 541 Year(s) 1,613 Average Days in Milk Per Cow 315 .Grain to Milk Ratio 1:2.4 ♦Value for CWT Milk(s) 14.85 .Feed Cost Per CWT Milk(s) 5.33 .Value for CWT Grain(s) 7.99 Avg Level For 1,147 SCC Herds 346,691 ♦Value for CWT Hay(s) 4.39 ♦Member generated figure* What will that mean for you, the Pennsylvania DHIA member? That you have to consider drop ping your membership and service because you cannot afford it anymore? You should think carefully about where your priorities lie before you seriously consider that alternative. Why? Because retail ers understand that when times get tougher the last thing you should skimp on is advertising and prom otion. In fact, when sales are down they often increase the advertising and promotion budgets to increase consumer knowledge of their goods and services and thereby generate more business. Likewise, when your profits are squeezed by lower milk prices, you ought to consider increasing your investment in production records services. I don’t mean spend more money, but spend time learning how to use your records better. Look for extension classes, kitchen clinics, conversa tions at the coffee shop, anything that will help you learn more about the DHIA records you get every month and how you can increase the payback on that investment. Well used records Lancmw Farming, Saturday, November 17, 1990-A25 should return at least $8 for every $1 spent Even if you decide you cannot continue to pay for DHIR or DHIA official records, we probab ly have a records program you can use as a lower cost alternative. DHIA has programs that cost as little as $.lB per cow per month. That’s right eighteen cents! And other types of service are available for about $.50 per cow for lab component testing, or about $.BO per cow for lab testing and pro- / FOCUS Pennsylvania / Dairy Herd i Improvement Association's 0,11 l-*«>-DHI-TEST for service or mfonrauun. Average Farm Feed cwt. Costs For Handy cwt™ 1, No ‘ 2 ’ 2,735 8U ’ 4,57 Reference C wr ley ’ N0 ‘ 3 ' 1,97 8U ‘ 4,22 To help fanners across the state ® ats > No. 2 - 1.29 BU. 4.03 to have handy reference of com- CWT. modity input costs in their feeding Soybeans, No. 1 - 5.63 BU. 9.40 operations for DHIA record sheets CWT. or to develop livestock feed cost New Ear Com - 55.64 BU. 2.78 data, here’s this week’s average „ costs of various ingredients as Old Ear Com - 73.225 BU 3.66 compiled from regional reports ~ across the state of Pennsylvania. N®y ' 107-25 BU. 5.36 Remember these are averages so OWT. you will need to adjust your figures cwtt up or down according to your loca- C ’l T ‘ . TI lion and the quality of your crop. Nay * 91.25 BU. 4.56 Com, No. 2y - 2.525 BU. 4.52 CWT - cessing so you can get cow projections. i I know these choices might not be perfect but they are usually better than the alternative of no records service at all. If you need to know more, call 1 -800-DHI-TEST (that’s 1-800-344-8378) and ask for the DHIA region manager in your area. He’ll be glad to help you find the record program that best suits your needs.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers